SES-12 satellite goes live over Middle East

SES-12 was built by Airbus Defence and Space and was successfully launched by SpaceX in June 2018

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SES’s latest satellite, SES-12, has gone into operation and is ready to serve video, fixed data, mobility and government customers across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

The powerful satellite, which is designed with state-of-the-art wide beams and high throughput beams, will join SES-8 at 95 degrees East. SES-12 is the latest satellite that SES has launched to that orbital position where it will operate under the authority of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The all-electric satellite will replace the services currently being provided on SES’s NSS-6 satellite.SES-12 is SES’s third hybrid satellite with both wide beams and high throughput payload. Together with SES-8, it will reach key direct-to-home neighbourhoods and deliver High Definition and Ultra HD content.

SES-12 will also be pivotal in enabling governments to provide connectivity programmes to bridge the digital divide, and in allowing telcos, mobile network operators and internet service providers to deliver reliable and enhanced cellular backhaul and faster broadband services.

“We are excited that SES-12 is now ready to serve our customers in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, and would like to thank the Airbus and SpaceX teams for their hard work on making this possible,” said Ruy Pinto, chief technology officer at SES.

“SES-12, with its high-performance capacity, will be able to offer much more reliability and flexibility to our customers and enable them to deliver premium services.”

SES-12 was built by Airbus Defence and Space and was successfully launched by SpaceX in June 2018. It will join SES’s network of seven geostationary satellites and 16 medium earth orbit satellites across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.